Author
Topic: JediJman's Month o' Vintage (Read 7075 times)

I've been enjoying reading about all of these great acquisitions! One of the wings on my X-Wing was broken where it rotates inside the body, so I bought a scrap X-Wing and pulled apart mine to replace the damaged one. The fix worked quite well and I enjoyed finding out how the inner mechanism worked.

I've been enjoying reading about all of these great acquisitions! One of the wings on my X-Wing was broken where it rotates inside the body, so I bought a scrap X-Wing and pulled apart mine to replace the damaged one. The fix worked quite well and I enjoyed finding out how the inner mechanism worked.

Thanks Jesee. Was that a pretty easy fix? I have so much to do in the SW room that I haven't dedicated any time to looking into this, but I'm going to start building the vintage display in the next month and should probably start planning for this. Did you just disassemble and figure it out or did you use some kind of reference material for the fix? I think I can figure out myself, but am not above using a cheat sheet!

I have some more goodies to post as far as new acquisitions go - just haven't had time to post. Maybe later today...

I was thinking about the box of x-wings you have. A while ago, I started a project to make a two seater x-wing like this prototype. I got fairly far on it. I just couldn't keep it from splitting in half.

Hmmnn...interesting concept. Where did the top photo come from? Is that just art or did someone actually make one of these? I have a few custom vintage ships that someone mixed and matched together to create pirate ships. I'll have to dig them out one of these days...

Update! Here are a few more of my recent finds. The Vintage A-Wing is stellar with working electronics, landing gear, and side guns that still click. I picked up this and the Slave-I with Fett for $160 shipped, which is fair I think. I also snagged battle damaged versions of the X-Wing and TIE-Fighter. Great stickers on these and working electonics - I bought them from someone on RS who sold be the pair for $80 shipped. The Falcon was only $85 shipped, but did not include the box. I couldn't resist with great stickers and all the parts including the training ball. Only knock on this one is that one of the six gray circles on the back plate is missing. Grrr. Enjoy!

I've been enjoying reading about all of these great acquisitions! One of the wings on my X-Wing was broken where it rotates inside the body, so I bought a scrap X-Wing and pulled apart mine to replace the damaged one. The fix worked quite well and I enjoyed finding out how the inner mechanism worked.

Thanks Jesee. Was that a pretty easy fix? I have so much to do in the SW room that I haven't dedicated any time to looking into this, but I'm going to start building the vintage display in the next month and should probably start planning for this. Did you just disassemble and figure it out or did you use some kind of reference material for the fix? I think I can figure out myself, but am not above using a cheat sheet!

I just removed all the screws and played with it until I figured out how the wings worked, I seem to remember it being fairly straightforward. The electronics on mine worked OK so I didn't need to tinker with that.

The Slave I looks great, I still don't have one of those, vintage or modern.

Thanks! I was a little worried about the Slave-I as I didn't have pictures of that one beforehand, but it came from the guy with the A-Wing, which looked great, so I figured I could trust him.

Next batch includes some of the smaller, but rare SW vehicles. This was a group purchase from a British guy on RS. He had the Side Gunner and all 3 of the POTF minirigs available, so I hopefully saved a few bucks on shipping getting them all from one place. The total with shipping was about $180 - pricey for four little things, but I did get some of the original packaging and the overseas postage was insane. Enjoy!

Wow! I'm am seriously jelous of the POTF minirigs and the side gunner. I've always wanted that stuff but was never willing to pay the high prices for them. $180 seems like a good deal considering it breaks down to $45 shipped for each item.

The picture of the two seater x-wing was a prototype that Kenner made back in '85 to continue the series around the Clone Wars. I should have finished the project except I ran into a problem trying to fill the holes were the old wing went. I also didn't have a way to really glue them together so they would stay strong.

Thanks! It was hard to lay down that kind of cash on such small vehicles, but I love the way they look. I only remember seeing them at a store once as a kid and my dad wouldn't let me buy them...it took me a few years, but I finally did it!

Okay, for the next chapter in my vintage addiction, I'm going to take you through the dark underbelly of local auction houses. I recently found a "local" auction house that had some rare vintage carded figures. The auction house was about 90+ minutes drive from where I live and started at 6pm, so I left work a little early and drove forever to check it out. What an experience! I've never been to a live auction before, but it was actually pretty cool. The Star Wars stuff was about 160 lots in, but they do about 100 an hour (!), so I was ready to join the action around 7:30.

The auction had 21 carded vintage figures. Very clean, flat cards and minty bubbles for the most part. I did arrive early enough to inspect some of the figures, and there were a couple I scratched off my list early due to bubble damage, slight tears, or card warping. I pulled together a summary sheet ahead of time and took notes on that as I went. Here's the auction cheat sheet:

The catch is that most of these figures have their POP cut out from the back. Outside of the Luke, you can't tell looking at the front of the card and that's how I'll display it, but that does reduce the value somewhat. Each lot starts at $10, so I was hoping to score some good deals if no one else was interested. As a non-reseller, you have to pay 10% upcharge to the auction house and 7% interest, so a $10 item really costs you $11.70. I had a budget of $1400 (cash that I brought along) in hopes of getting most of these at a deal price. You can pay by check or credit card as well, but I wanted to set some kind of limit for myself. I sold a few things recently and cashed out a small savings I had been building for an opportunity like this.

I'll follow-up with Part 2 tomorrow to let you know how the auction went and what I went home with.

There are layers to the cardboard. You can cut a thin circle and peel it off the back without any indication coming through to the front. Its small, but you can see on Lot #238 where they cut all the way through...most of the rest you can't even tell.

I was hoping to land these for $60ish or less to take them all home (pipe dream I know). Again, my cash on hand was $1400 - I wasn't going to spend crazy, but I didn't want to leave empty handed either. I really wanted to get the four Cantina Aliens on SW cards (I have Greedo and Snags, but on other movie cards), and I was hoping to get C3PO and R2 as well, since I don't have either of those. I have most of the others on ROTJ or Empire cards, but would trade them out for SW banners even with the POP missing.

Around 7:30 Lot #166 comes up for bidding. There was a lot of excitement and talk beforehand about the figures - the auctioneer said it was hard not to revert to his 10 year old self and tear into them. I should add that the auction house takes online bids, but with a mark-up of 16% for online bidders (plus tax). It goes so fast, I'm not sure how well online would work anyway, but a handful of these did sell that way.

Anyhow, The bidding shot up to $150 right away (bidding goes by increments of $5 until $100, then it goes by $10), but I really wanted that GREEDO and was determined to go home with at least a few of these. I bid $160 and won him, at which point they just walk him right over to you and move to the next auction. Mixed emotions to kick things off - I was happy to get Greedo and the bidding process is pretty exciting, but I knew right then that I would only be going home with a few figures at those prices. Keep in mind there is a 17% upcharge beyond the final bid.

WALRUS MAN went a few lots later (they did a good job spacing them 4 lots apart to give bidders some time to think). I scored him for just $110 - more than I originally wanted, but a deal next to Greedo. Once I had two of them, I knew I had to grab the last two aliens from the set. Here's how the rest shook out...

Power Droid ($95) - Did not bid. There was a 1/4" tear near the bubble. I have him on a ROTJ card and needed to felt like I needed to save money for others.

DEATH STAR DROID ($95) - WON! He was on a minty card and bubble, so couldn't resist him on an original card

R5-D4 ($95) - WON! I got caught up in this one. I have him on a ROTJ card, but got sucked in by the original 21. His POP is half behind the bubble and I didn't notice the cut went all the way through about 1/4" to the front until after I bought him. Not awful, but I would have rather stuck that money elsewhere knowing how everything shook out.

Hammerhead ($100) - WON! This is the one I was worried about. I figured he was going to be as popular as Greedo, so very happy to get him for considerably less. However, at this point I'd already spent $560 ($655 with fees & tax) - nearly half my budget. I decided to slow up a bit.

Tusken Raider ($100) - I bid him up a little, but the bubble was dented along the top and I already have him carded. Pass.

Jawa ($100) - This one was very tempting on a 20-back Fett card, but the card was really warped in three different directions. In hindsight, I might have swapped my R5 for the Jawa, but it's another figure I already have on a really nice Jedi card.

Death Squad Commander $150 - DSC was on a 12-back and pretty high on my list. I have one, but not on a great card. I bid him up a ways, but had to stop once he reached $150.

Snaggletooth $95 - WON! I completed my set of four aliens and he was the cheapest of the bunch. Great card and bubble - I was feeling pretty happy at this point.

Stormtrooper ($100) - WON! I'm happy with this one, but it was really something of an accidental win. I have 4 vintage carded stormies already (SW, ESB, ROTJ, & POTF), so I really didn't need a 5th. That said, I don't have a 20-back Fett offer Stormie (or any Fett Offer cards actually), so it will be cool to display him with the rest. I was really just bidding him up, expecting him to go in the $150 range like the DSC. When the bidding stopped at $100, I was excited to get him, but frankly a little worried about my budget. This put me at $880 with fees and a lot of great figures to go.

Darth Vader ($140) - Vader is another character that I already have multiple cards of. He was tempting up to $100, but I stopped there. This was an offerless 21-back and I have a 12-back already. Better to drain the other bidders at this point.

Obi-Wan Kenobi ($160) - if I have a regret from that night, it is not testing $170 for Ben. The bubble was cherry mint and the card was actually unpunched! I have a Ben (again on a Jedi card), but this was a really nice piece and a 20-back Fett offer as well.

C-3PO ($170) - WON! This was the most paid thus far and received a lot of attention when it sold. He's a on a 12-back card and really minty, so while it was expensive, I'm happy with him.

R2-D2 ($150) - WON! I was willing to go to $170 on this one as well. He's on a 21-back, but everyone (including me) failed to notice that his POP was not removed! I didn't notice until I bought him, so was pleasantly surprised. With fees and taxes I had spent about $1260 by now, so I was either going to get a figure for around $100 or be done for the night.

Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot ($140) - This was a great card and bubble, but I just bought an Empire carded one a few weeks prior for $35. Just couldn't justify buying a second and my funds were depleted.

Princess Leia ($230) - Great 21-back card, but out of my price range.

Luke Skywalker ($180) - Great 21-back card, but out of my price range.

Han Solo ($300) - This was a really nice 12-back, but way over priced IMO. He was the large head version and the card was solid, but that's a lot of money with the POP removed. I think a few guys saved up and were duking this one out.

Chewbacca ($120) - I think I actually could have swung this one for $130, so a little dissappointed I didn't go higher and nab an even ten. But at this point I decided to just save a few bucks and be happy with what I found.

So let me know what you think of my haul. I ended up shelling out about $140 per figure, which is higher than I hoped, but still good prices IMO. Outside of my winnings, my favorite part of the night was the sale of a box of loose SW/GI Joe/Assorted figures. A dad brought his (10yo?) son in and let him bid on it. He nervously bid, but won it for $27.50 and was elated. Pretty cool father/son experience.